How, Why, When, Where, Who?

We have always nourished our family with our own ranch raised beef, often getting requests from family and friends for this same great product. Keeping that group of individuals limited for many years and "doing the same thing we've always done" wasn't fair to the rest of you. We're happy to have completed the work to get USDA inspected meat direct to you! 

RY- Is our livestock brand. This is essentially a "tattoo" to help with animal identification required in some states for ownership transfer, sale, etc. South Dakota has a Brand Board that holds all the registered brands in the state. 

This brand has been a family brand passed down to Tate and Bobbi by Grandma in 2020. Grandad Jack held this brand from his younger years and branded an undocumented of cattle throughout the years. 

Brands in some families are a sense of pride in being a steward of not just the animals, the land, representing your family in all aspects of ranching. 

Tate & Bobbi Wells started their herd as written above by doing chores and receiving heifers as payment.  Currently there is only one herd , owned by Tate & Bobbi Wells, pastured on the RY- Ranch Company LLC land in Piedmont, SD. As the Wells' children grow into adulthood and decide if they want to in fact have a herd of their own or take on the family business there will always be opportunity for them to own cattle and continue raising nutritious meats.

We wouldn't want to serve you anything we wouldn't eat or serve our family. We humanely raise (raising animals with compassion, respect and giving them quality diet and minimal stress from birth to slaughter. We are also holistically and regeneratively raising these animals on our pastures. 

Raising the animals holistically encompasses all living plants and animals. All systems being interconnected from the soil, grass, livestock, to our family, the environment and beyond.  By doing this all regeneratively it means to us that we are not just sustaining life we are restoring and improving it by our holistic approach to be aware of water systems, plants, humans, etc. Regenerative can mean many things to many people, to us we are actively changing our ways to question the choices and actions we make daily on the ranch.  

Keeping in mind the holistic and regenerative approach we are utilizing, we do not vaccinate a healthy calf. We do not co-mingle our herd with other herds and try to stay away from neighboring herds via fence lines for herd health as well as herd competition (pushing over fences). Should an animal become ill and need medical attention we are not going to allow it to suffer and antibiotics may be utilized, though very seldom does this happen. 

We have had great success and seen the herd health improve with Redmond Livestock salt and supplements. During the spring and summer months we have free choice (available 24/7) garlic salt, which helps with fly control as well as conditioner on occasion to help remove toxins and for the animals to absorb key nutrients better. During cooler months a standard Redmond fine salt. 

To grass fed livestock we offer a higher protein pelletized alfalfa and grass mix. This is a a great energy and nutrient boost for the cattle. 

Grain fed animals will be fed rations (to not over eat) of select corn and other grains to increase body fat and inner muscular marbling. 

Organic is a loaded and probably overused word in the agriculture industry, in our opinion. All ranches are organic, meaning the cattle are derived from living things.

The part that are are striving for in our holistic and regenerative management practices mentioned above, is the limiting of applying or administering synthetic vaccinations, chemicals, pesticides, herbicides, etc. We want to give you the cleanest protein product possible. That being said, we are not certified and if something comes up that needs to be addressed we will. 

We are ranchers and we are for and with all ranchers and those in the agriculture industry in the USA! We are simply doing something different by putting our story out and offering our products directly to YOU. There is no guessing, we are willing to be absolutely transparent. No need for labeling where it came from when you order from us. We are aware there are many other online direct sales you could chose from. We are honored that you chose us and we are open for any other questions that are not addressed here.

ry-familyranches@outlook.com

We define our grassfed as grassfed and finished. The are not fed any grains to "finish" their muscular building up to slaughter. This provides an "organic" product if you want to term it that in that the livestock are converting the grasses they eat into nutritious, clean protein. This also allows the livestock to be on open pastures throughout their lives. This meat typically has a "beefier" flavor profile and leaner with yellow fats.

Grainfed animals are also on grass for a majority of their lives. Upon reaching a certain age or weight they are then placed in smaller pastures or corral systems to "fatten" to finishing weight. The rations given are high energy to give the inner muscle, marbling (fat content) and giving the taste more buttery and tender with white fats. Some say sweeter. 

The website will host products for sale to the public once all VIP's have compled their ordering. Updates of sales coming, etc. will be posted on Facebook and the website. Scheduled slaughter and pre-sold items is the primary method of fulfillment. Due to this being a working ranch and we want the most fresh product for you, we will be doing pre-order sales to ensure the product is as advertised. Not held in freezers for months.

Due to orders being pre-sold. Products are usually advertised when slaughter dates are scheduled. Takes approximately 3 -  4 weeks to age, process and pickup or coordinate shipping. Once we have official pickup dates, we will contact each client to coordinate shipping or pickup. 

To simplify the process we are selling boxes with variable products available in them. Don't see something you'd like reach out, we can customize a box for you and your family!